Shoe support



Oct.'27, 1953 R. A. UNGER 2,656,556

- SHQE SUPPORT Filed Oct. l0, 1952 Patented ct. 27, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHOE SUPPORT Richard A. Unzer, Beverly, Mass., assignor to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application October 10, 1952, Serial No. 313,998

6 Claims. l

This invention relates to machines for use in the manufacture of shoes, and more particularly to means for supporting the shoes while they are being operated upon. The invention is illustrated as embodied in a shoe supporting jack for a machine for leveling the bottoms of shoes progressively but it is to be understood that it is not thus limited in its applicability.

In leveling machines of the type above referred to, the heel end of the last is commonly supported by a tipping block carrying a spindle arranged to enter the spindle hole of the last, and by a pin in the tipping block having a last engaging head, the pin being automatically adjusted heightwise during tipping of the block in jacking the shoe to provide adequate support for the heel end of the last as illustrated and described fully in Letters Patent of the United States 1,831,109 granted Novernber l0, 1931, on an application of F. V. Hart et al.

Different types of lasts require different sizes of spindles in order that a proper t be obtained and that the shoe be adequately supported in the jack. For example, the spindle holes in lasts for childrens shoes may be smaller than those in lasts for mens shoes and there may be variations in sizes of the spindle holes for different types of lasts for mens shoes etc. Accordingly, to adapt the machine for operation on shoes of all types, the spindles are replaceable and heretofore it has been customary to provide a locking screw for holding the spindle in the tipping block against accidental removal when the shoe is removed from the jack at the completion of the leveling operation.

To facilitate replacement of the spindles, it is an object of the present invention to provide improved means for locking the spindle in the tipping block. To this end and in accordance with a feature of the invention, the spindle locking means is controlled by the supporting pin and is so arranged that the spindle is free for removal by the operator in response to lifting of the supporting pin. The locking means also acts, in accordance with a further feature of the invention, to prevent rotation of the supporting pin so that its head remains in the proper position with respect to the tipping block,

The above and other features of the invention,

i including various details of construction and novel combinations of parts, will now be described with reference to the drawing and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a View in side elevation, partly in section, of one form of leveling machine jack in which the invention is embodied;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the tipping block illustrating the locking means by which the spindle is retained therein against accidental removal; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating the release of the locking means by upward movement of the supporting pin, with the spindle partially removed.

The invention is illustrated as embodied in a leveling machine jack of the type illustrated and described in Letters Patent of the United States 2,104,739, granted January l1, 1938, on an application of A. Eppler et al. V

This jack comprises a heel post IU and a toe post I2 carrying means for supporting a shoe and last for a leveling operation performed by a roll I4 which applies downward pressure on the shoe sole and acts progressively along the shoe bottom as the jack is swung by power operated means in directions lengthwise of the shoe.

Pivoted on a pin I6 in the upper end of the heel post I0 is a tipping block I8 carrying a. spindle 20 which enters the spindle hole in the heel end of the last. The block I8 is arranged to be swung about the pivot pin I6 during jacking of the shoe to force the toe end of the shoe into engagement with a toe support 22 carried by the toe post I2. Additional supporting means are provided for the shoe between the heel and toe ends thereof comprising a cone support 24 arranged to be depressed by engagement of the cone of the last therewith in the jacking operation and subsequently to be forced upwardly against the shoe as described in detail in the Eppler et al. patent.

Further to assist in supporting the last and shoe against the heavy leveling pressure, the top face of the heel end portion ci the last is sup` ported by a pin 26 having a last engaging head 28, as illustrated in the Hart et al. patent referred to above. This pin is slidable in a bore in the tipping block I8, the lower end of the pin normally engaging an inclined surface 29 formed at the upper end of the heel post I0 so that the pin is automatically moved heghtwse during tipping of the block IB to maintain its proper supporting relation to the last. As shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the spindle 20 has an enlarged portion 30 on its lower end arranged to nt closely Within a recess 32 in the tipping block adjacent to the supporting pin 26. It will be understood that the lower portions of the diierent sized spindles which may be 

